Press Release

Africa and the International Criminal Court (ICC):

Lessons Learned and Synergies Ahead

Johannesburg, South Africa, 9-10 September 2014

Africa Legal Aid (AFLA), in cooperation with the Kenya Section of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ-Kenya) and the Centre for Internationalisation at the University of Johannesburg, will convene a high level pan-African and lessons learned conference “Africa and The International Criminal Court (ICC): Lessons Learned and Synergies Ahead” in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 9-10 September. The conference will be hosted by the Law Firm of Webber Wentzel at its Auditorium on 10 Fricker Road, Ilovo Boulevard Johannesburg, South Africa. This conference will focus on the impact the ICC and more generally, International Criminal Justice have had on the African continent and the challenges that lay ahead.

This intervention is in line with AFLA’s on-going efforts to engage Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), legal fraternities, government representatives, diplomatic spheres, academics, opinion leaders, and the media in discourse on the evolving regime of international justice, and more specifically as it relates to Africa.

The meeting has attracted participation of a world-class faculty of experts including H.E. Navi Pillay, immediate past United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Judge Florence Mumba, Former Vice President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), who is also the first African female to sit on an international Court in The Hague. The list includes H.E. Judge Sang-Hyun Song, President of the ICC; H.E. Tiina Intelmann, President of the Assembly of State Parties (ASP) to the ICC; H.E. Fatou Bensouda, Prosecutor of the ICC; H.E. Jan Lucas van Hoorn, Netherlands Ambassador to the ICC and OPCW; H.E. Elizabeth Rehn, Minister of State of Finland and Board Member of ICC Trust Fund for Victims; Honourable Joe Ghartey (MP), Second Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana, Former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Ghana; Prof. Vincent Nmehielle, Legal Counsel of the African Union (AU); Dr. Ahmed El Gehani, Libya Focal Point for ICC Requests and Honourable Mogoeng Mogoeng, Chief Justice of South Africa.

This engagement will be attended by more than 120 delegates and is bringing together CSOs from 30 countries in Africa including Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sierra Leone, Tunisia, Libya, Malawi, Zambia, Ghana, Botswana and South Africa, to engage with officials of international and intergovernmental organizations including the ICC, the African Union (AU), United Nations bodies, and State parties to the ICC as well as non- State Parties such as Libya.

The conference will address topical, undertreated, and emerging areas of international criminal justice, including Accountability for International Crimes and High Ranking State Officials; Complementarity in Practice; and Intensifying ICC Cooperation in Africa.

Evelyn Ankumah, Executive Director of AFLA had this to say: “There is a need to bring the ICC closer to Africa and its people. There is a need to increase Africa’s support for the ICC. Civil societies have an important role to play, to promote accountability and to end impunity for massive crimes in Africa”.